Sambo

Sorry, double post.

I hate this stuff. Residential builders working directly for the homeowner are held to a really low standard with regards to transparency. If I were a landowner engaging a builder to build my house, I would expect them to quote everything that was required. If you can't get CCC on a house without a retention tank, then it should be included. It's really not good enough to say "but it's not on the list of inclusions!", the client is not a construction professional who can work through the list and know what's missing. A surgeon wouldn't quote an operation without anesthesia then withhold it because it's an extra. The company I worked for usually worked with a fixed price. We'd often lose jobs to companies who quoted a provisional sum, and several times those people came back and told us that their final cost was (a lot) more than our fixed price. The builders on a provisional sum really don't have the same incentive to be thorough when they're pricing in the first place, and they don't have the same incentive to work to the budget. The numbers are always bigger up front, and you're usually paying for a few more overheads (QS, Admin staff etc), but it's good insurance. On the other hand, some of these items look like either the scope genuinely changed, or the architect didn't provide an adequate design. You can still get cost overruns on a fixed price of course, but there has to be a better reason that "oh, I missed that".

With a solid rear axle, if it had a 2" lift then it should basically be a Surf.

Thanks for the responses. @MofIt's in Middleton. https://goo.gl/maps/sYihh7FMB6KCta6u9

Hey fellas, Are any of you heavy diesel mechanics or similar and happy to check out a truck on behalf of my work? This is a 6 figure purchase and we're happy to pay for your time to do it. It's a bonus if you know a bit about HIABs/hydraulics. The truck is a 2007 Isuzu FVZ. Otherwise, would you recommend someone trustworthy? Cheers.

This has been on the back burner a bit recently, I'm a bit pissed off at it. The new head makes a loud knocking noise, very audible over the rest of the engine. North Shore Engine Reconditioners basically shrugged and said "unluggy". It's a once per revolution type noise, definitely top end, coming from the back of the engine. It also failed it's WOF on a leaky waterpump, getting the right replacement from Partmaster was a 3 week saga, but it's back together and running now albeit without a WOF yet. I went halves with a mate on an auction for a Z18ET and FS5W71b gearbox. He's taking the box for his 910 bluebird, and I'm flogging the engine/turbo gear. The bottom end is a bit useless to me, but I'm looking at the head and asking myself some questions. It's very clean inside, and the backs of the valves have very little carbon etc. Unfortunately 7 out of 8 exhaust mani bolts are stripped, so if I was to use it I'd need to get them fixed (I tried to do it myself on engine mk2 and wasn't thrilled with the results). It's also twinspark, which I'm lead to believe is good for turbo applications. Anyone want a Z18 shortblock (or longblock)?

Even on non structural components there's a limit to the size of a rust hole. No.

I'll have to check tonight. The battery is in the boot, so it wasn't immediately apparent.

Sanity check: I connected the (fully charged) battery in my AE85 for the first time in a number of months. I connected the positive first, then when I went to connect the negative I got an impressive amount of sparks. I tightened the connections, then noticed that both terminals were getting really hot and starting to smoke. Ignition was definitely off, so there shouldn't have been any significant draw. Short on the positive cable somewhere?

That scaffolding is wild. What happens once the cladding is on and the joinery is in? Does anyone know what the system is called?

There was a fella on Toyspeed who reduced the size of his smallport intake valves ... something something helmholtz. /ling Edit: intake ports, not valves. It was an interesting theory, but I think that in this situation the vessel (runner) length would be a better variable to play with, rather than restricting the intake to get the resonance you wanted.

I got everything together on Saturday, then had to charge the battery, so I got it started on Sunday. It was idling nicely, had a couple of fairly loose tappets: Tightened those up and then attempted to take it for a drive. It was missing really badly under load, really badly. I started losing my shit about putting the timing chain back wrong, then remembered that it was also missing really badly before I took it apart. I'd just assumed that it was a symptom of the BHG. So after checking the plugs etc I decided that the coil must be bad. I borrowed the coil off the ute I just sold and went for a drive, much better. So I've ordered a new coil, hopefully picking it up today. I also had a yarn with the guy who bought the other one. I was bang on diagnosing the issue it had. The vacuum advance diaphragm on the side of the dizzy was toast (like I told him). He swapped a new diaphragm on and it drove perfectly. Double edge sword there, happy I was right, sad that I got half of the value of the car. Oh well.

I wasn't planning to do it immediately. I just have a hole in the cooling system that needs a bung and I thought I might as well put the correct thingo in the whatsit to save draining coolant later. It doesn't actually look very hard though, so maybe I will do it soon.

Thanks @kpr. That's exactly what I needed.

I want to convert my D21 to run an electric fan, just because. I've found a whole bunch of thermo switches that will fit the available hole, but I'm not sure what temperature range I want. It's a bog stock Z24 engine (carb, sohc, low as anything compression). It does do a bit of sitting in traffic and the odd light thrashing etc, like any daily driver. Everything seems to be available in the right format from 'On 85 - Off 80' through to 'On 105 - Off 100'. Any advice?

Some of the mangling I did to make the Z20 manifold work. The most stressful bit was finding that the bolt spacing for the carb was slightly different, I ended up using a drill to slot two of the mounting holes by 4mm each. Overall the manifold looked the same, enough so that I didn't actually start finding differences until I started trying to put things together. Mostly different bolt spacings and a few more of the cast bosses are actually used on whatever car it came from. There's the obvious cut in the throttle cable bracket around the base of the carb, but the bolt spacing was also different, so I cut it further down to slot the hole. There's also a cut to clear the linkage on the left. Made this sweet blanking plate for a coolant thing that my ute doesn't have, I've got no idea what it is. The gasket for it came in the head set though, so that was nice. One of the last jobs is sorting out a new temp sender. The Z24 one is a much, much smaller body size than the Z20 item, but the Z20 one is broken. The Z20 also has a port for another temp probe on top (pictured) that had two vacuum hoses on it. I'd like to use this [port] to run an electric fan, I think this type of sensor is a thermostatic switch? If I take my multimeter to pickapart, would I be able to tell which type I'm looking at? I'm assuming that the switch wouldn't have continuity, while the gauge sender would? On a single terminal sensor does it earth to the body of the sensor?

Long time no update. I wasn't really planning to post, so the pictures are a bit lacking. I sold the flatdeck Navara yesterday. Also been getting busy on finally fixing the blown headgasket on FEG. I got the Z20E head cleaned up, though I ended up wishing that I'd just got the one listed on kiwi cylinder heads' website. Cost the same and I still have to put up with a few flaws on mine. I've spent the last few days sorting out making the Z24 carb and associated gubbins fit onto the Z20S intake manifold. I also bought a D21 Terrano for parts. It was one of those rare deals that went really well. Paid $400 for the car plus $150 to have it delivered. Sold $300 of parts off it in a couple of days, took all the stuff I wanted (AC conversion, power windows, mirrors, wiring, wheels etc), then sold the remainder for $500. Unfortunately it was parked on the road, while the neighbour was having open homes. It got reported as abandoned. My other two D21s got a collective $600 in tickets. I also nipped out to pickapart to pickapart a double cab Navara there (acutally just wanted the factory intake hose). While I was there I noticed that the rear end was an LSD model. Choice! Whipped that out while battling a few wasps and got it home on Sunday. Old mate came to pick up the Navara yesterday and asked if it had an LSD by any chance, I was all "nah, doubt it", he was all "I'll just check anyway", and fuck me sideways there was a LSD sticker on the back. Fuck it. Coulda swapped that over easy as and saved $100. What's a good, black paint to stop the diff looking so shit? I don't actually care about the finish, just want it durable and not rusting anymore. Aaaanyway, head should be going back on the good Navara next time I get home from work at a decent hour. Hopefully I can fish out the cam sprocket washer I dropped down the front of the engine, then set the tappets and we're away.

The average meet is under 10 people anyway, right? I was keen for this one...

I've noticed recently that another channel I follow (Aussie Arvos) must edit out almost all of the ums, ahs, and pauses. The video is a little choppy as a result, but honestly I find it preferable over a video that's 2 minutes longer with zero additional content. Also, don't be worried about short videos I reckon. They're way easier to fit into the day. Watching 20+ minute videos means actually taking a fair bit of time to sit down and get through.

There's already a big improvement between the first and most recent video! You're clearly getting a bit more comfortable talking to the camera.

Indeed, minus a tiny bit of compression. His main objective is raising the front bumper up. Assuming a front overhang of 750mm, a 15mm spacer raises the front by 19mm, pretty decent.

Good idea. I've passed that on.

Is it acceptable to space down suspension top hats? A friend has got lowered spring in his accord, which are great, but he wants to raise the front of the car by about 8-10mm. We were thinking that getting a nylon bush made up to match the top hat would be a neat solution.

@johnny.race